Stick Man
We’ve started to get festive in Nursery this week. We all helped to put up the Christmas tree, we hope that you like it!
We made paper chains to decorate nursery, it was a bit tricky to thread them together but we did it.
In the home corner, children enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree and re-creating some experiences from home.
We’ve enjoyed listening to Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and helping to recreate it using our story props. The children loved exploring our Christmas sensory tray, finding objects that “made a noise”, some to “sprinkle”, some that were “soft” and some that were “stretchy”
Outside the children loved decorating our winter trees with baubles and tinsel.
We made Christmas trees in the dough, carefully decorating them.
We’ve also been busy learning our Christmas songs, maybe you’ve been hearing them at home? We can’t wait to sing them at our Christmas sing- a long.
Help at home
Can you find some long and short objects around the house? Which is the longest piece of tinsel on your Christmas tree? Which is the shortest?
Let us know what you find.
Next week’s learning:
We’ll continue with our Christmas themed learning and will find out about the Nativity story.
In maths, we continue to learn about length so will be using the words long, short, longer and shorter to compare different objects.
Nursery rhyme of the week – We’ll be busy learning songs for our sing – a long, so please keep singing your favourite rhymes together at home.
Here is a reminder of the Nursery rhymes we have covered this half term
Wind the Bobbin up.
Hickory Dickory Dock.
1,2,3,4,5 Once I caught a fish alive.
Twinkle twinkle Little Star.
Sound of the week – N n for net
Open your lips a bit, put your tongue behind your teeth and make a nnnnnn sound.
Reminders:
- Please send your child’s costume to Nursery by Monday 09 December. Remember to write your child’s name on all items of their costume and the bag. Thank you for your support.
- If you haven’t already returned your reply slip for the ‘Stay and Decorate’ sessions, please do so this week.
We have been learning about materials this half term in Science. We know lots of different materials in their properties.
‘Fabric is usually soft and smooth.’
‘Wood is usually hard and strong. It comes from trees.’
‘Glass is a man-made material but it comes from sand which is a natural material.’
This week we conducted an experiment. We collected lots of recycling materials from home and built houses out of the materials. We then dropped a wooden brick on our houses, to see which materials were strongest.
Take a look at what we’ve been up to!
29 November 2024
Our whole-school homework this week is:
Reading: please make sure your child is reading on a daily basis.
Number Fact Fluency: Use Numbots or Times Table Rock Stars in regular short bursts.
Talk Time
This week’s Talk Time relates to this half term’s Art topic.
I can compare and contrast different artworks/architecture/designs.
I can give my opinions, and back them up with reasons.
In our Art lessons, we’re thinking about the work of these artists (Y1,2) / architects (Y3,4) or designers (Y5,6) and we’re using the following vocabulary:
Y1,2 Artists:
Vocabulary: pointillism, op art
Y3,4 Architects:
St Paul’s Cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren
London Aquatic Centre, Zara Hadid
Vocabulary: architect, architecture
Y5,6 Designers:
Vocabulary: pattern, repetition, symmetry, foreground, background
The key to this task is being able to explain thoughts and opinions. It’s worth remembering that the opinions of one person may not match those of another and that it’s okay to disagree.
We’d like your child to speak confidently and passionately about art. Using ‘because’ will encourage your child to think carefully about their own interpretation of the art. Offering your own opinions may also help your child to consider alternative viewpoints and perspectives.
Discussions about the art could take place in a number of ways. Here’s a couple of suggestions:
- Discuss each piece separately before then looking at them side by side.
- Have both pieces side by side from the start.
Whichever approach you opt for, referring to these questions and the vocabulary above will help to focus your discussions at home:
- Explain what you like about each piece.
- Explain what you dislike about each piece.
- How are the two pieces similar?
- How are the two pieces different?
Considering what is most important to you, which piece do you prefer?
Night Monkey Day Monkey
This week in our light and dark topic, we’ve been learning about day and night.
Night Monkey, Day Monkey
We’ve been reading Night Monkey, Day Monkey by Julia Donaldson.
The story follows two monkeys who find themselves awake at their opposite times of day. They are very confused by what they see and need help understanding everything! Our word of the week is: nocturnal. We know that nocturnal means “active at night”
We’ve been writing about nocturnal animals and features of day/night.
Science: shadows
We’ve been making further investigations into shadows, by spotting them outside and by using our dark tent. We know that to make a shadow, we need a source of light. When that source of light is blocked, it casts a shadow. We explored using mirrors to reflect lights differently and used colour paddles to change the colour being projected onto the tent wall.
Maths; part-whole
In Maths, we’ve been looking at the ‘parts’ that make the whole of something. For example, the parts of us that make our whole body. Our head, eyes, legs etc. are the parts, our body is the whole.
This leads on to understanding the composition of number; the parts that can be added together to make a whole number.
PE; Gymnastics
This half term, Friday PE sessions are gymnastics. We are exploring movement and balance, developing fundamental skills and learning how to demonstrate our skills to others.
Phonics
Autumn 2 week 3 has focused on the single letter phoneme z and digraphs zz, qu, ch
We’ve learnt the tricky words; go, no, to, into
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight.
In provision, we’ve been playing what’s in the box and reading the words to match pictures we find.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Shoes.
We talk about how a poem sometimes has rhyming words and sometimes doesn’t. We also talk about how a poem can have a fast rhythm or a slow rhythm.
Click below to watch Reception recite this week’s poem
Help at home; Stars
Next week, we’ll be looking to the skies again! We are learning about the night sky and stars.
We know this is a topic of interest for many children in Reception. If you have any books or resources to share that are linked to this topic, we would love to see them.
World Nursery Rhyme Week
This week is World Nursery Rhyme Week. Here are some reasons why nursery rhymes are so valued in early years education.
Across the classroom, children have focused on a range of different nursery rhymes and we have been singing them (even more!) at carpet times.
Each Peach Pear Plum
Linked to World Nursery Rhyme Week, we’ve been reading this classic book by Jane and Allan Ahlberg. The children loved listening carefully for the rhyming words and spotting familiar characters on each page.
Our word of the week is: rhyme
History; Household objects from the past
The pictures in our focus story inspired discussions about household objects from the past and we learnt about some objects we had never seen before. We then compared these to objects we might have at home, in the present.
In addition to pictures, we looked carefully at some old household artefacts and had a go at sorting past and present objects.
Ask your child which objects from the past they can spot in the story picture below. Can they remember what they are called and what they are used for?
Odd Socks
I know how to STOP bullying is our school living and learning statement this week. On Tuesday, we wore odd socks to signify our differences and share the message that we are all different in some way. We discussed how important it is to celebrate our differences and respect everyone.
Stay and Learn; Maths 1
On Wednesday, we had a wonderful morning exploring maths with our adults.
Thank you to all of the parents and carers that were able to join us in the classroom to watch a short lesson, partake in some activities and listen to a teacher presentation.
As always, any feedback on the session is much appreciated to help us know what we are doing well and consider what we might adapt to make our sessions even better in the future. Please use the QR code below to provide your feedback.
If you’d like to access the teacher presentation, please click the link below:
Parent copy SE Maths Mastery presentation stay and learn 2024
Children in Need
Thank you for joining in with non-uniform day, to raise money for Children in Need.
Phonics
This week, we focused on the new GPCs (Grapheme-phoneme correspondence) v, w, x, y.
We’ve also learnt the tricky words; and, has, his, her
Tricky words are words that should be read by sight. We start by identifying which part of the word is ‘tricky’.
Please continue to revisit this week’s sounds, by using the learn at home sheets. Thank you.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called A Basket of Apples.
click here to watch Reception recite this week’s poem!
Classroom snapshots
Here are some more snapshots of our learning this week…
Swimming
Colours in the sky.
The children were very excited when they returned to Nursery, sharing their experiences of Halloween with their friends. There was a lot of talk about witches, bat costumes and skeletons.
We began the week finding out about Diwali, the festival of lights. We watched some short video clips to find out about how some people prepare for Diwali and enjoy celebrating with family. We learnt about rangoli patterns and diva lamps.
In the dough area, we decided to make own Diva lamps by rolling a ball and pushing our thumbs into it to make a ‘thumb pot’. We added patterns with the tools and put a candle inside. We created some rangoli patterns too by following patterns with jewels and gems.
Wednesday was Bonfire Night, the children played with the bonfire themed small world area adding the sounds of the fireworks to their play. “whoosh, bang, zoom, whizz”
Along with hearing lots of different sounds the children had seen lots of bright colours in the night sky. They used spinners to make firework pictures, the faster it spun the bigger the splash ! At group time we used chalks to create the Bonfire Night sky.
As part of our phonics learning, we’ve introduced the letter ‘s’ this week. We took turns to pull some objects out of a bag that all started with the letter ‘s’ We talked about the ‘s’ sound that we could hear at the start of each word. In Nursery, we focus on our listening skills. We’re not learning about letter formation just yet.
We show the children this picture card and use this pronunciation phrase. You could try this at home.
Show your teeth and let the s hiss out sssssss sssssss
Help at home: What can you find at home that begins with the letter ‘s’? Go on a sound hunt together and look for some. Let us know what you find.
Reminders
- It’s “Odd Socks Day” on Tuesday so wear odd socks to Nursery for the day
- It’s Children in Need on Friday and it’s a non-uniform day. Please remember it will be a usual Nursery day, so please dress your child in clothes that are appropriate for outdoor and messy play.
Next week
It’s World Nursery Rhyme Week so instead of our usual Nursery Rhyme of the week our provision will be Nursery Rhyme themed. We’ll be singing lots of our favourite rhymes. If you’d like to send us an email with your child’s favourite rhyme and we’ll try to sing it at Nursery next week. scholesnursery@spherefederation.org
Sound of the week – Aa for astronaut and apple
Open your mouth wide and make the a sound at the back of your mouth a a a
Potion Commotion
Potion Commotion
We’ve been reading Potion Commotion by Peter Bently and Sernur Isik.
We’ve been writing our own potion recipes and making potions in the water tray. Using our growing phonic knowledge and skills, we have been able to represent the sounds (phonemes) we could hear in words with the letters (graphemes).
We’ve enjoyed themed activities, with a focus on developing important skills.
Phonics
This week has been a revision week.
In provision, we’ve been making our own flashcards.
Poetry Picnic
Each week we will be learning a new poem. We will recite this poem each day. By saying the poem out loud, we can focus on the sounds and rhythm of each word or line. We talk to the children about how this can help us become better readers. This week’s poem is called Pointy Hat
Help at home; light and dark
If you go to any light shows, see any illuminations or go to a firework display over the half term break, we’d love to share your photos in class. We’ll use the pictures to support our next topic on light and dark.
Year 1 Maths
We have revisited our learning about the ‘greater than >’, ‘less than <‘ and ‘equals =’ symbols that we focused on previously. We used our trusty conkers and other equipment to help us.
Moving on from our learning about splitting carrots into parts and wholes. We have been looking at pictures and equipment to see what is a part and what is the whole. We are impressively good at this and have begun to move this knowledge on to splitting numbers! Using a lot of examples and our STEM sentences we are able to quickly see the parts and wholes. Our STEM sentences go something like this:
3 + 5 =8 (in digits or pictures)
3 is a part. 5 is a part. 8 is the whole.
2+2= 4
2 is a part. 2 is a part. 4 is the whole.
Just look at some of the fantastic examples that have been produced from Year 1!
Year 1 are growing in their knowledge and confidence in Maths. It is wonderful to see!
Help at home: Practice writing digits 0-9. We are reversing some numbers. As the year goes on we will become better at this too!
1A addition
Today in 1A we looked at the + symbol. We talked about how numbers in an addition expression are commutative. This means we can swap them around and the total stays the same. Whatever the order, the result is the same. We had a go at placing some conkers into two circles and then writing expressions to represent them. Here’s some of our learning:
Help at home: You could draw two circles and fill them with a number of objects like we did in class today. Can your child write the expression to represent the objects in the circles? Can they write a second expression where the numbers have been swapped around?
Let’s get creative.
Talk of Autumn filled nursey this week as we continued to share our amazing Autumn treasures. If you haven’t returned yours to nursery yet, don’t worry, we will continue to share them until Friday.
We enjoyed using some of our Autumn treasure to create our own autumnal artwork inspired by the artist, Andy Goldsworthy. Whilst doing this, we also used some of our sorting skills to sort the leaves into different colour piles.
In the Maths area we used our Autumn treasures to copy and continue repeating patterns. Why not try this at home with toys eg car, brick, car, brick, car.
Autumn has inspired our learning in the sensory areas too. We have scooped and poured red and green lentils and barley. We listened to the sound it made as it dropped onto the tray and how it felt as it trickled through our fingers. We used the light frame to create pictures with leaves made from various materials. We watched how the light made the leaves change.
Group time learning activities began this week. We enjoyed drawing different patterns on some wellies. We drew horizontal lines, spots and some children created their own patterns including ‘x’ and zig-zags.
Help at home
Next week our Nursery Rhyme of the week is Humpty Dumpty
Can you join in with this rhyme?
Reminders
- We have been sharing lots of family photographs at group time this week. If you are still to send yours in its not to late send it to the nursery email address scholesnursey@spherefederation.org
- Please make sure that your child’s shoes are named. We have some identical pairs this year.